The Saviour
by Minstrella
Summary: In the weeks following Buffy's death, Spike struggles to come to terms with his loss, and with the constant advances of the Buffybot. I plan for this to be a few chapters long.
1. Chapter 1

**The Saviour**

As the final light of day slowly failed, the shadows cast by the tombstones stretched longer across the cemetery's grass. Buffybot knocked politely on the heavy door to Spike's crypt. He had told her to knock if she came by. He liked her more when she knocked!

'Spike?' she rapped louder. 'Spike! I had to patrol. So I patrolled to you!' The lack of an answer from within made Buffybot miss Spike even more. Perhaps he was in danger? What if her Spike needed her to come inside the crypt and slay something? Time to find out, she thought.

With a firm push, the crypt door eased open with an eerie creak. She could probably fix that for Spike, if he wanted her to. Willow had given Buffybot all the tools necessary to keep herself limber - they couldn't have the freaky demons and vamps suspecting she was not the _really_ -real Buffy because of a squeaky elbow. She'd have to remember to ask him if that would please him.

The crypt was almost entirely silent - but for the low murmuring of Spike's TV set there was not a sound to be heard. Buffybot watched the screen for a few seconds (it interested her to know what Spike enjoyed) and then switched it off. _Passions_ again. Behind her, from the shadowed corner, she heard a low mutter.

'Buffy...'  
'Spike!' she ran to the corner to find Spike asleep in a chair. 'Spike, it's me. I'm here!' Remembering how irritated her presence in the crypt had made Spike recently, she wondered whether to wake him or not. She wanted to see those eyes of his, piercingly blue and full of... something different these days.

She leaned in towards Spike's face, observing him closely as he slept, bemused by the depth of his sleep. His eyes moved beneath his pale eyelids and his jaw clenched.

'I'll save her. I can save her... Buffy, don't jump... don't go!' Spike threw a frustrated punch, landing it squarely into Buffybot's left cheek and catching her by such surprise that it knocked her back across the crypt. Spike was awake and on his feet in an instant.

'What are you doing here? Didn't I tell you not to come around here anymore?' He towered over Buffybot and she held out a hand for him to help her up.

'You said not to come inside,' Buffybot replied. 'And - I - I didn't come inside... until I did...' Buffybot took Spike's offered hand and pulled herself to her feet. 'I had to go patrolling because of all the vampires. And yesterday I heard Xander said tell Willow that you should make your bleached behind useful. So I came here to get you. To help you be useful.' She nodded, smiling. Surely he could see she was only trying to help?

'Oh he did, did he? Buffy's gone six weeks and the little boy fancies himself the king of the castle now.' Spike turned his back on Buffybot, picked up a half-empty bottle of whiskey and went in search of his cigarettes. 'It's nothing personal, love.' He slipped a cigarette into his mouth and lit it. 'It's just I don't feel like hanging with the damned Scooby gang is all. Now scram.'

'Yes, Spike.' Buffybot stepped towards the crypt door. 'Maybe you can join me for a slay-o-rama later!' She beamed at him, exposing her brilliant white teeth, and blinked. 'Maybe we can play "Sex Scenario 33" when we're done! I know how you enjoy that one.'  
Spike let his head drop back, as though it had suddenly become too heavy for his neck and shoulders, and let out a loud sigh. She ignored this. He liked her more when she just followed his instructions, so she'd leave.

'Bye Spike! I love you!' she pulled the crypt door closed behind her and was gone at last. Spike walked to his chair but before sitting, he stood, shoulders slumped, looking at the door the Buffybot had just closed. He'd forgotten to apologise for hitting her and he felt sorry.

He stood there for a moment, allowing himself to regret his outburst, before he felt a familiar rumble of the beginnings of anger. He wasn't angry at her - of course not. She didn't know any better. She was doing what she was programmed to do. What he had _had_ her programmed to do - to _love_ him.

He felt his hand ball into a strong fist. It. **_IT_** , for bloody hell's sake! He had to stop thinking of _it_ as a _'her'_... as Buffy. How could he have ever thought that some bundle of wires and circuits could be a replacement for what he should have been able to achieve with the real Buffy? Ridiculous! He threw the bottle of whiskey at the crypt door, where it smashed into tiny shards, and he sank back into his chair.

Silent tears rolled down his face as he closed his eyes to sleep again. In his dreams was the only place he could see the real Buffy now. And even though each night his dream played out the crucial, final moments of her life, he didn't care. He got to try to save her once again. Every night he saved her. The real Buffy.


	2. Chapter 2

The low hoot of an owl greeted Buffybot as she stepped out into the warm dusk air. Time to slay. Creatures of the night - beware! Buffybot walked a few paces and stopped, closed her eyes and concentrated on the sounds around her. Footsteps. Were they sneaky footsteps? Uncertain. Time to investigate.

Pulling the stake from the pocket of her stylish jacket, she walked towards the voices. As the familiar figures of Willow, Tara and Xander approached, Buffybot put her stake away and waited patiently, with a wide smile on her face, for them to notice her.

'Look, all I'm saying Will,' said Xander in a hushed and cautious tone, 'Is that I don't get why you're so concerned over Captain Peroxide. He's been holed up in that crypt for a month. A good month. A quiet month.'  
'Xander I know he's not perfect -' began Willow.  
'Ya think?'  
'- But he can help us. Buffy's gone. How long we can keep up the facade with Buffybot, I don't know but we need the creepy evils to believe she's still here and frankly she could use all the help she can get.'  
'I agree with Willow, Xander.' said Tara. 'Spike has been useful in the past. We can't always patrol with Buffybot. We can't always be with her to make sure she doesn't mess up. He could have her back in all kinds of situations we can't be there for.' Tara took Willow's warm hand in hers. 'When the time comes to go back to school, we'll be around less and less.'  
'Hey don't think I'm against helping the Buffybot to do her slay-gal thing. But let me just be the first to say, I am not exactly giddy about knocking Spike's door and asking the guy for help. I thought we were just going to the crypt to make sure the Buffyb -'

As the three pushed through the bushes opposite Spike's crypt, Xander caught sight of her. She was standing between two tombstones, a huge smile on her face. He looked at Willow and Tara.  
'...Say. She's really getting a firm handle on the whole "realistic human behaviour" thing, isn't she?'

'Xander!' She waved, still smiling. 'Hi Willow and Tara. You are Wiccans. Is it a good night for a spell?'  
Tara looked at Willow, her eyes wide, then returned her attention to Buffybot.  
'Umm, s-sure... Buffy. What are you doing here? We thought you were out patrolling?'  
'Uh huh. There are no vampires in this area, that I can see. Except Spike. He dreamed about me.' Another enthused, nodding smile was met with confused glances between the three. 'Willow, do you like my jacket?'  
A faint shadow of a smile brushed Willow's face as she remembered, 'Yeah, I do. It's... it _was_... one of Buffy's favourites. What do you mean about Spike's dreams?'  
'He dreamed of me and called my name and told me not to jump.' A frown formed on Buffybot's face. 'He seemed upset. He woke up and then he told me to leave. He always tells me to leave.' She lowered her head.

There was a sudden smash from behind the crypt door. Though the crypt was twenty or so feet behind Buffybot, and the door had been shut tight, the sound was unmistakably that of shattering glass. Xander couldn't resist the temptation to try and inject some humour into the silence that had now befallen the four friends.  
'Nope. Not upset. That sounds like he's still the well-adjusted, not-at-all-sociopathic Spike we've come to know and love.'  
'Xander.' cautioned Willow. 'We should probably go and check on him.'  
'Sure, by all means. I, for one, would like to start _all_ of my evenings in a dank mausoleum with a pissed off vampire.'  
'If Spike is upset, I should go to him!' cried Buffybot, and she began to turn towards the crypt once more.  
'Buffy, maybe you should go and patrol with Xander ,' said Tara, giving Xander an encouraging look. 'Xander said he'd be back to check on Dawn soon anyway, would you mind protecting him on the way home?'

Xander rolled his eyes. 'Sure. I need to check on Dawnie. Buffy? How about it, do you want to come and beat up any demons I happen to attract with my unique demon-magnetism on the way?' Buffybot looked at Xander, then took a longing look at Spike's crypt. Back to Xander.  
'I will protect you with my life, Xander. Maybe I can see Spike tomorrow?'  
'We'll ask him,' nodded Willow, giving Buffybot a parting hug.

Willow and Tara watched Buffybot and Xander leave, knowing he was probably less than happy about pretending to be the babysitter of a 15 year old girl so that he could babysit a three month old robot.

'I hope Spike's ok,' said Tara. 'He really doesn't seem to be handling Buffy's death all too well. I mean... what do we even say to him?'  
'We try to make him feel better. I think the best way to do that is to help him feel useful. You know, keep him in the loop?' They walked towards Spike's crypt.  
'You mean, tell him about the plan to bring Buffy back?'  
'No - at least - not yet. But we do need his help. And, whether he'll admit it or not, he needs ours too.'

Willow knocked quietly on the door. Nothing. She and Tara looked at one another and Willow took a deep breath. She knocked again. This time, her knock was met with:

'Oh, will you **SOD OFF**!'


End file.
